The Meeting
by GoddessMoonLady
Summary: Prequal to "A Long Time Coming" but can be read as a stand alone. River and Rose meet and River has a decision to make that could change the course of her future.


The Meeting  
GoddessMoonLady  
Disclaimer:  
I don't own Doctor Who! Believe me, I would LOVE to have David Tennant and Billie Piper all to myself. ^_^

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Okay! Here's my second attempt at a Doctor Who fic! Remember, I still haven't seen Season 7, so no guarantee that any of this is cannon accurate! I just know what I have been able to gather from the Doctor Who site's available companion info. This is actually a prequel to "A Long Time Coming" but can be read as a stand-alone oneshot. I couldn't resist revealing the conversation between River and Rose prior to Melody's degeneration into an infant. Even before that fic, I had been dying to have these two meet, so how could I resist giving the two most important women in the Doctor's life the chance to talk?

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River stood, gazing out across the gardens, a far off look in her eyes. It was so peaceful here. so easy to forget who she was. She closed her eyes as the wind blew through her hair, carrying with it a new scent, a change in the air. She blinked her eyes open, glancing around as she felt the peaceful atmosphere change into one of expectation.

"River Song"

River turned startled to find a young woman standing behind her, watching her with a comforting smile on her young face. "Where did you..?" She eyed the young woman in confusion, trying to figure out how she could have possible come so close without her being aware of her.

The girl's soft, hazel eyes smiled at her, "Everybody lives. He's quite fond of that phrase isn't he? It's a shame that he doesn't get to say it too often." Her voice was soft, distant, but pervaded a calm happiness.

River swallowed, she felt her chest tighten slightly at the mention of her love, her husband. She opened her mouth to respond but couldn't find her voice.

The girl's gaze never wavered from River's, "He loves everyone with everything he is, was, and will ever be; always seeking ways to save others from pain, even at the expense of himself. That incredible man..." She shook her head. "Professor River Song. Melody Pond-Williams. I am here to play my part in his dream. You have been very brave, done so much. Now it's time that something was done for you."

"Wh-what?" River stammered, "What do you mean?"

The soft smile grew slightly, "I am here to offer you a second chance. Your life was stolen from you unjustly; I am here to offer you the chance you never had."

"But how? And how do you know me?" River demanded, she didn't want to allow herself to think about what this girl was offering. She had had plenty of time to think about her life, about who she was, and who she could have been. Becoming that person was something she had never allowed herself to contemplate.

"I am simply here to help. I have telepathically tapped into the computer in which you are stored, in order to have this conversation with you. I have been watching you for quite some time, waiting for this moment. You have lived an incredible life; a hard life. Fate was not fair to you but now it is time to mend that." The girl was looking at her with a surprising amount of affection. The gaze confused River, more than the blonde's words. "I am here to take you home."

"Who are you?" River whispered, overcome with a torrent of emotions.

The girl tilted her head, her unwavering gaze both disconcerting and strangely comforting. "I... I am the Bad Wolf."

River's eyes widened as her heart sped up. Bad Wolf; The Doctor had told her of the Bad Wolf and the incredible human girl she had been; the girl that had saved him when he needed her most. The girl that always seemed to return just as everything was ending to help save the day and set things to right; the girl who always came back. "You. You're... Her. He spoke of you... Always with fond longing. The girl who always returned."

Her soft smile became a cheeky grin as her tongue pressed against her teeth as she nodded, "Like a boomerang, that's me. I told that man forever and I meant it. Didn't quite realize there would be a few detours along the way but what's forever without a few sidesteps now and then. I'm just relieved that he hasn't had to do without love during those detours. If there is one thing that man deserves, it's all the love he can get and then some."

River stared at her in awe. Here was the virtually legendary Rose Tyler; the girl that the Doctor spoke of with reverence and that River, herself, had always felt an inkling of jealousy toward, smiling at her with gratitude and affection for having loved the same man. It was a stunning revelation. She had, on the occasion that Rose had been brought up, imagined that if the two of them were to ever meet that Rose would look at her with jealousy and anger that River had what Rose had been denied the chance to have. Yet, here she was, gazing at River as though she had done her a great favor in marrying the Doctor.

"This must all seem so confusing to you. I am sorry about that. I had planned to make this as simple and painless as possible." Rose offered as she moved closer to River's frozen form. She reached out and touched the other woman's hair in an almost motherly gesture.

River's eyes flicked down to lock with the slighter girl's reassuring gaze. "You said you were here to take me home.." She murmured.

"That's right," Rose smiled softly, "Your parents are living in London during the 30's. An accident in time that is beyond the Doctor's control as he will not learn about it until after their deaths become a fixed point courtesy of a Weeping Angel. This is the point that I can take you to. Any other point and we would risk crossing you, your parents', or the Doctor's time streams and risk a paradox."

River's heart panged as she realized what this would mean for her, for them. "I'll never see him again, will I?"

Rose closed he eyes sadly, "I'm sorry, but to my knowledge, no. You will grow up as a normal little girl with no memory of whom you were, living a normal little life. You may cross paths with him at some point but it will simply be as strangers and even that is unlikely. Your life as River Song will live on in the memories of those who knew you and in the memory of the Tardis who never forgets anyone she cared for but not to you."

River's eye swelled with tears. Could she do it? Could she let him go, knowing that she would never remember knowing that incredible man? She turned to gaze out across the grounds laid out before her in this computer generated world, Rose silent beside her, letting he make her decision without outside influence. This wasn't really living, was it? The Doctor had placed her here to save her because there wasn't any other option, but this wasn't a real life. If he had been able he would have chosen for her to have a real life. Rose was right; the Doctor did always seek to help others, to give them what they needed without a thought to him-self. She closed her eyes as she sorted out her thoughts.

She was being offered a life; a chance to live happily, to know her parents as parents. To be anything other than the murderer she had been made to be. A clean slate and fresh chance; but at the cost of the man she loved. Opening her eyes, River turned to look at Rose. "What about him? Will he be alone?"

Rose gazed at her compassionately, "He has never truly been alone. Even as the last of the Time Lords, there is always someone waiting to love him. Regardless of what he believes, there are millions of people scattered across time and space that know and care for that madman in his little blue box. People whose lives he has touched and changed simply by being himself. You, your mother and father, his granddaughter, Sarah-Jane Smith, Wilfred Mott, Martha and Mickey Smith, Jack Harkness, Harry Sullivan, Ian Chesterton, Barbara Wright, Jo Grant... that's only a few who knew him personally, the full list goes on into infinity; myself not least among them." Her words carried the weight of knowledge usually imparted by those at least three times her apparent age, before the seriousness was wiped away with her cheeky grin, "Besides, I owe that madman the forever I promised him and I plan to make good on that promise. He's not going to lose me again anytime soon. I've been waiting for over a hundred years for this day."

"What!?" River gasped, staring at the 'young' girl in disbelief.

Rose laughed, "I know, not bad for a 140 year old woman, huh? It's amazing what after effects being exposed to the Heart of the Tardis has. I'm not exactly immortal, but pretty close to it. I haven't aged since I was nineteen, and as long as I'm not killed, I don't think I'll actually die. I'd rather not test that theory though; got close to it once, back when I was eighty-seven and John died." She closed her eyes, the amused smile wiped away with her memories, "If it wasn't for my grandson Junie I doubt I would be here right now. He reminded me that the Doctor was still out there, helping others, and that I had made a promise to that man that I had to fulfill.

"It took me a while to figure out how to get across the void and back into this Universe but it was worth it. I've been observing him; waiting for the right time to return to him; for our time to come again. In the meantime, I kept an eye on his new companions. They and you were there for him when I couldn't be and for that deserve all the happiness possible." Her eyes were guilty as she looked away from River, "I was too late to help your parents. I tried, but there was nothing I could have done to bring them back, I was lucky enough to escape the Angels myself. I tried to follow them back but my Vortex Manipulator always landed years off the mark. I suppose that is time's way of telling me that I can't change their fates, even for the Doctor's sake. However," Rose's expression perked up a bit, "I can help you. So here I am."

River felt compassion bubble up for this woman that had suffered pain in her apparently long life and yet, here she was, offering help to another. The action was so much like her Doctor. Gazing into those hazel eyes she could see it, the same look of pain and perseverance present in the Doctor's eyes. This woman who had tried to help others, simply because they had touched the heart of the man she loved. River felt it, deep down in her soul. The Doctor had needed her, loved her; they had had their time but he needed Rose now, as he had long before herself. She now understood Rose's feelings. Knowing that he wouldn't alone; that this truly incredible woman would be with him, love him; made her decision easier.

With one last sad smile and a mental goodbye to the man she loved, River took the proffered hand and allowed herself to be pulled into the loving arms to be surrounded by golden warmth.

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There we go! I hope the conversation was believable. Part of this was inspired by something I heard someone on TV say: "If you truly love someone, you should always want to put their happiness before your own." I can just see both Rose and River doing just that, but since I'm a Rose/Doctor shipper, I prefer them together. I can see Rose going out of her way to help those her Doctor loved in her absence, especially River. If you're wondering about the lack of jealousy, remember that Rose is 140 years old. She's lived a long life, had a large family, and lost one of the two men she loved. She's had time to learn that having more people love someone is never a bad thing, it simply means that that person was never alone. River made him happy and was there for him when he needed her, for that Rose will always feel grateful. Well, now that the mushy stuff is explained, I just have to say that I hope my explanation of Rose's age made as much sense, lol. As I've said before, I find it impossible that someone can come into contact with the Tardis, let alone absorb the Heart of the Tardis, with no after affects. This is further evidenced by Ian and Barbara whom are said to not really age (if you've ever looked up their bios).

Well! I really do ramble on a lot, don't I? Sounded almost like the Doctor himself! Minus the techno speak lol! Oh, and for the record, I am aware of the bad grammar and punctuation during their conversations. Real people speak in fragmented sentences all the time and this is a conversation, after all.

Review, Please!


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